Sort out your Sum Insured

Once you've estimated the potential cost of rebuilding your home, you're more informed about how much to insure it for.

As construction costs can change, it's a good idea to check your Sum Insured amount at least annually. This will allow you to take into account any improvements made to your home that may not be reflected in the Sum Insured. Likewise, your insurer might have also adjusted the Sum Insured to take into account some changes in building costs. However, the amount of adjustment might not be enough in all circumstances.

Need to adjust the Sum Insured?

If the estimate produced by the calculator is the same or similar to the Sum Insured that appears on your Policy Schedule and you're comfortable that it's right for your home, then-aside from your duty of disclosure and any other relevant matter that may require other action by you-you may not need to do anything more than pay the renewal premium.

If the estimate produced by the calculator is different to the Sum Insured on the Policy Schedule that came with your home insurance renewal, and you're not comfortable that it's right for your home, then you may need to adjust the Sum Insured.

Remember, your insurance provider doesn't have access to the information you enter into the calculator, or to the estimate that it produced, so if you'd like to adjust your home's Sum Insured, you'll need to contact your insurance provider.

Inform your insurance provider

If you'd like to adjust the Sum Insured provided on your Policy Schedule, add additional cover for retaining walls, Recreational Features or Special Features, or take out a new home insurance policy, select one of the insurance providers below to find out how to contact them.

If you'd like to adjust the Sum Insured provided on your Policy Schedule, add additional cover for retaining walls, Recreational Features or Special Features, or take out a new home insurance policy, select one of the insurance providers below to find out how to contact your insurer.

If you have any queries, or would like more information, please contact us on 0800 340 333, or pop into your local branch.

Make sure you use the right information for your home

The calculator relies on the information you enter into it. A small variation in some of the information you enter can significantly affect the result.

Why it's important to sort out the Sum Insured

If you don't contact the insurance provider of your IAG-underwritten policy to adjust the Sum Insured on your Policy Schedule, that amount will automatically be applied as the Sum Insured for your home when your policy renews.

It's important to remember that if your home is ever destroyed, your insurer will pay no more than the Sum Insured, even if the actual cost of rebuilding your home turns out to be greater.

So if you set the Sum Insured too low and you need to rebuild your house, you may have to rebuild to lesser size or quality, or pay for some of the repair or rebuilding yourself. And if you set the Sum Insured too high, you may be paying too much for your home insurance, because if the cost of rebuilding your home turns out to be less than the Sum Insured, the maximum payable will the be the actual cost of rebuilding.

Remember to check that your IAG policy's limits for Retaining walls and Recreational Features are sufficient for your home. If you need to increase or get cover for these, or have any Special Features that you need to purchase cover for, you should contact your home insurance provider.

Planning alterations to your home?

If you are planning on carrying out alterations to your home, you should contact your insurer provider to confirm what cover applies or is necessary during the alterations. When the alterations are finished, you should contact your insurer again to update your Sum Insured accordingly. Working out a new estimated rebuilding cost for your home will help you identify how much extra cover your improved home may require.

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